After a record attendance and an incredibly informative March meeting, we knew we had a hard act to follow. Well beer geeks, we think we've done it. We're very lucky to have not one, but two great guest speakers and presenters:
Continue reading April Meeting: Kettle Souring & Craft Malting
The ever popular Learn2Brew event will return for 2017 on Sept 17th. Visit the Learn2Brew page for full details.
The GTA Brews Spring 2017 Grain Buy is now open!
Thanks again to Toronto Brewing for hosting, please make sure to give them your love and make some purchases on pick up day! Don't forget, now they deliver your online order to breweries all over Toronto for FREE!
All questions should be emailed to grainbuy@gtabrews.ca
Sign Up Open: Saturday Apr 29th, 2017
Sign Up Close: Thursday, May 18th, 2017 (11:59 pm)
Payment Deadline: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017 (11:59 pm)
Split Date: Friday, Jun 2nd, 2017
Main Pick Up Date: Saturday Jun 3rd, 2017 (10:30 am – 1:30 pm) Continue reading Grain Buy - Spring 2017
What is it like to be a homebrewer in Toronto?
Pretty awesome actually.
Ontario, and Toronto in particular, is currently experiencing a renaissance in homebrew retail, and public interest. There are countless new homebrewers buying starter kits every day, just ask the local homebrew shops (LHBS). This is definitely related to the exponential growth that craft beer in Toronto has experienced in recent years. People have been Continue reading The Toronto Homebrew Scene
When people think of advent calendars they usually think of candy, but since we are a homebrew club we were thinking beer. The idea was that we would get 24 people to sign up and brew a beer to put in the calendar. Each person would be assigned a day of the month so that we are all drinking the same beer on the same night, then we can discuss it. James Kennedy put in the effort to make it happen, organizing the exchange and making the calendar below. In the end we had 26 brewers participate in the exchange. Here's to a month of great beers!
I took a few blurry pictures of the exchange, it was a bit cramped and everyone was moving around!
![IMG_20141130_131219[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.gtabrews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/img_20141130_1312191.jpg)
![PANO_20141130_131104[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.gtabrews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/pano_20141130_1311041.jpg)
This past weekend was our 15th monthly meeting as a club and I'm constantly amazed that so many great brewers come out to share their beers. We had a good amount of new faces and lots of repeat attendees. I found the that the quality of beer was very high this time around, including beer from several people that were insisting they weren't that great! Remember, just because you didn't hit your gravity or mash numbers right on, or it doesn't taste exactly how you imagined, doesn't mean it doesn't taste great!
The Brett IPA we brewed in October at Geof Trail's house was fantastic. On the nose I got a little bit of funk but also tons of tropical fruit (mango, pineapple). Right on with what we were aiming for. I'm hoping to bottle some up to bring to future club meetings, and to do a full review.
Our wonderful hosts Shaun Staples and Peter Kirby guided us through their Brew In a Bag (BIAB) system on stove top. A great system that many small space brewers can take inspiration from. We brewed a clone of Firestone Walker's Double Barrel Ale, which is an oak aged English Pale Ale.
Unfortunately this was the last meeting for our friend Shaun Staples who has been an active member since meeting #3 and when the group was less than 40 people on Facebook (now over 360!). Best of luck in Australia, come back and visit sometime!
Here's the recipe we used:
Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale clone (ish)
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.015
ABV: 4.85%
IBU: 30ish
SRM: 13ish
8.5 lbs of Pearl / 2 row (67%)
2 lbs of Maris Otter (16%)
1 lb Munich I (10L) (8%)
12 oz Crystal 75L (6%) (preferably english crystal)
4 oz Crystal 120L (2%)
1 oz Chocolate Malt (0.5%)
0.33 oz @ 14%AA Magnum for 60 mins (13.5 IBU)
1 oz @ 5%AA EKG for 30 mins (11 IBU)
1 oz @ 5%AA EKG for 20 minute whirlpool after FO (4.5 IBU)
1 oz @ 4.5%AA Fuggles for 20 minute whirlpool after FO (4 IBU)
WLP002
1.25 oz Medium toast oak cubes for 14 days, to be added after first 24 hours. Will soak in Whiskey or Cognac first, depending on what's handy.